Hot Topics:

Nuggets: Karl not going anywhere

Nuggets coach isn't on hot seat after another early playoff exit

By Benjamin Hochman The Denver Post

Posted:
05/03/2013 11:06:14 PM MDT

Updated:
05/03/2013 11:06:30 PM MDT

DENVER -- Across Denver on Friday, opinions were fired off like Stephen Curry jump shots. Should the Nuggets keep coach George Karl, who won a franchise-best 57 NBA games, or let him go after a first-round flameout?

"George is under contract for next year. At this point in time, we haven't really given any thought to making any change whatsoever," Nuggets president Josh Kroenke told The Denver Post and nuggets.com. "As we do at the end of every season, we'll have internal meetings and George will obviously be a major part of them.

"We won 57 games and in my mind, he should hands down be the NBA coach of the year. We'll all put our heads together and try to figure out what happened (in the playoffs) and why it happened.

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl watches his team play the Golden State Warriors during the first half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
(
Ben Margot
)

We were without our second-leading scorer (Danilo Gallinari), and some benefit of the doubt should be given to a coach with well over 1,000 wins without one of his leading scorers in the playoffs."

Friday was a somber day at Pepsi Center, one day after Denver's season ended at the hands of Curry and the Warriors. Karl found himself searching for answers.

"A lot of us coaches feel we could have done better, should have done better," Karl said. "We made a big step (with 57 wins), but it wasn't validated by the playoffs. ... I thought we had a team that I was pushing the buttons and moving it around and it worked so well in the regular season -- not to make it work in the playoffs, I think there's a heavy burden on me, and of course my record speaks for myself.

Advertisement

And even though I put an armor on to defend my record, I'm disappointed in my (playoff) record, as well."

Usually energetic, Karl was sullen and zapped on Friday afternoon when he spoke to the media.

"There's an emptiness in my body, an emptiness in the guys of that locker room," he said. "But we have a great young bunch of guys."

The No. 3-seeded Nuggets weren't themselves against the No. 6-seeded Warriors, who controlled much of the series. On Thursday night,Golden State ousted the Nuggets, who have gotten past the first round of the playoffs once once Karl's nine seasons.

Since trading Carmelo Anthony in February of 2011, the Nuggets have been bounced by the Thunder, the Lakers and now the Warriors.

The plan was for the young, budding Nuggets to take a step forward this postseason and use the homecourt advantage to help them get to the second round. Instead, they took a step sideways, putting together best record in the history of the NBA franchise, only to fall flat come playoff time.

Karl's teams have made the playoffs every season since he was named head coach in January of 2005. In 2009 Denver advanced to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the Lakers. That was the only time Karl has gotten the Nuggets past the first round.

On Thursday night, Denver shot just 34.7 percent, their worst percentage since their first game of the season.

After the 92-88 loss, point guard Andre Miller said Denver was "out-played, out-coached, out-toughed."

Asked his reaction, Karl said: "I'm OK with it. There are parts of that that are correct, parts that could be argued, Andre is a passionate guy, he understands the game of basketball and I have no problem with the commentary."

The team didn't get home until 4 a.m. and then met at Pepsi Center at noon. Karl said that he, Kroenke and general manager Masai Ujiri talked to the team.

"(We) thanked them for a committed year," Karl said. "We talked to them about the summertime, having fun and getting better. When all the clouds go away, the toxins of the series go away, there will be more sunshine than right now."

And then, one by one, the players left the locker room with trash bags full of memories -- shoes, shirts and other gear from the season that ended too soon.

"Obviously, we wanted to go deeper into the playoffs," Nuggets guard Andre Iguodala said. "That was our goal, it didn't happen. Hopefully we learn from the situation and have similar success in the regular season and get back in the playoffs."

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story